Landscaping Update
I’m astonished when I look back at the calendar and see that it has only been ten weeks since I sat down with grid paper and laid out a landscape plan for the new studio/residence. Much has happened since we raked the first rock. One thing for sure, I now have a huge pile of rocks to use as I please.
Today we are waiting for the rain to stop so that we can do a first mowing of the new grass. The front grass is tall, lush and green. It was hydroseeded three and a half weeks ago and is almost too long to mow. In contrast, seven and a half weeks ago the grass in the back was planted by seed and is still weak, pale and thin. We’ve made two attempts to fertilize and one attempt to re-seed. Nothing seems to help. Over time it will become thick and lush if it survives this winter. The first mowing will only cut weeds down to size.
My plan changed as I worked the yard. I designed an elaborate series of narrow paths through the perennial garden. Instead, we have one gently curving 5’ wide path, wide enough for the ATV or lawn tractor to use as access to the back. Instead of planting the rose garden in the back, I placed it between the wide path and the new front lawn. I like it there.
We dug up so many rocks that we decided to use them as borders to the gardens and path. They look nice. Rock edging will require more hand work when trimming the lawn, but I think it will be worth the effort.
The front left side is still wild woods, full of small black spruce, a few tall birch and cottonwood, and a lot of willow and alder bushes. We are still thinking and mulling over ideas for this side. One suggestion was to thin out all the willow, alder, and cottonwood, so that the small spruce will have a better chance to grow and use wood chips along the driveway and phase them into the woods. I like this concept. A flat area out near the road that I thought would be lawn could be a rock garden surrounded by wood chips.
I don’t think we will be able to do much more in the yard this summer. We may thin out the woods, but are running out of time to do much else. That is the beauty of gardening in Alaska. After mulching the perennials sometime during October, winter gives us time to rest and plan for the next year.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
